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Anyone else have the old saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” engraved into them from elementary school? If only this adage had more truth to it, right?

Overweight people can have a number of physical or psychological complication that can impact their body. For example, some medical conditions and medications can contribute to weight gain. Any kind of trauma and abuse can trigger the development of eating disorders. Even factors where perhaps one is unable to afford quality whole foods, and then this can lead to relying on “fast-foods,” or “cheap foods.”

All in all, we don’t always know everyone’s story, or what they are going through. Words do hurt. They hold meaning. And when those words are used to shame someone else’s body image, the harm can go much deeper than the feeling of hurt.

What is Body Shaming?

The dictionary defines body shaming as to “mock or stigmatize (someone) by making critical comments about the shape, size, or appearance of their body.” This can be about your own body or someone else’s. Body shaming can even go as far as harmful commentary on a person’s age, hair, clothes, or the level of perceived attractiveness.

Research shows that exposure to weight stigma triggers physiological and behavioral changes connected to poor metabolic health and increased weight gain.1 Cortisol—the body’s main stress hormone—will spike, self-control decreases, and the risk of binge eating increases.

Effects of Body Shaming

Body shaming has countless negative and sometimes damaging consequences on a person’s health. Such as:

  • Youths who are body shamed have a considerably elevated risk of depression.2
  • Research has shown that body shaming can lead to eating disorders.3
  • Weight stigmas can worsen the outcomes for obese women attempting to overcome binge eating.4
  • Dissatisfaction with one’s body caused by body shaming can cause low self-esteem.5
  • It can also include mental health concerns like anxiety, body dysmorphic disorder, depression, higher risk of self-harm or suicide, poorer quality of life due to body dissatisfaction, and psychological distress.

Ways You Can Help

Speak up, and stand up, when you see or hear any act of body shaming. Making it a point about not engaging in various types of shaming can lead to improved mental wellness.

Stop Commenting on Other People’s Bodies

Unfortunately, body size comments, even those that are meant to be harmless or innocent, can lead to a more negative body image in children and adults. Notice your thoughts and acknowledge your own conditioning, bias, and/or judgements. Practice to expand and strengthen respect, care, and compassion for yourself and others. Make it an intentional effort to notice what you like, appreciate, or admire about yourself and others.

Change Your Self-Talk

Our culture can put so much emphasis on what is wrong with us and needs improvement. This can feel like a huge challenge to speak positively about ourselves and our bodies. But by practicing positive speech within ourselves and our bodies, and by noticing qualities about ourselves and others that we admire and appreciate, we can strengthen enhance our care, compassion, and connections with others and with ourselves.

Speak Up

This is the same as with all other instances in life, that when you see someone else causing harm, you will speak up and help—provided it’s emotionally and physically safe for you to do so.

How to Cope with Body Shaming

It’s important to know that no one should feel ashamed about how they look. If you are someone experiencing body shaming, you are not alone. There are things you can do to take care of yourself:

  1. Be Aware. A lot of marketing companies like to promote the “perfect body.” Be aware of the language used in these ads, and help identify—and stop—any body shaming you’ve internalized and may be repeating to yourself.
  2. Positive Self-Talk. Observe when you start criticizing your body. Word that conversation differently and consider something that you love about yourself and praise it. Try to focus on how your body feels, and thank it for all it does for you.
  3. Celebrate Your Body. Do something that you love to do! Actively appreciating your body can go a long way in helping you to love your body you live in.
  4. Get Support. You don’t need to be subjected to body shaming alone. Talk to someone you love and trust. If you need more help, talking to a licensed professional who specializes in body inclusivity can help.

Appreciate the human body for all it is and does!

Links to related articles:
The Negativity of Weight Stigma and Bias
Mindset Over Weight: Resetting Your Brain
The Power of Self Acknowledgement

 

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www.RMAP.com
Rocky Mountain Associated Physicians
801-268-3800
1521 East 3900 South, Suite 100
SLC, UT 84124

 

Resources:

  1. Lauren Vogel, “Fat shaming is making people sicker and heavier.”; 2019 Jun 10; 191(23): E649; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6565398/
  2. Alexandra A. Brewis, Meg Bruening; “Weight Shame, Social Connection, and Depressive Symptoms in Late Adolescence.”; 2018 May 1; 15(5): 891; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5981930/
  3. Alexandra A. Brewis, Meg Bruening; “Weight Shame, Social Connection, and Depressive Symptoms in Late Adolescence.”; 2018 May 1; 15(5): 891; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5981930/
  4. Lara Palmeira, Jose Pinto-Gouveia, Marina Cunha; “The role of weight self-stigma on the quality of life of women with overweight and obesity: A multi-group comparison between binge eaters and non-binge eaters.”; 2016 Oct 1; 1:105:782-9; https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27423819/
  5. Patricia A. van den Berg, PhD MPH, Jonathan Mond, PhD, MPH, Marla Eisenberg, ScD, MPH, Diann Ackard, PhD, LP, and Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, PhD, MPH, RD; “The link between body dissatisfaction and self-esteem in adolescents: Similarities across gender, age, weight status, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.”; 2010 May 4; 47(3): 290-296; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2923488/